Man Arrested: 31 Cats Found at Bartow Home Eviction

Tuesday

Jul 2, 2013 at 10:08 PM

A Bartow man was arrested Tuesday after Polk County Sheriff's deputies found 31 cats, including four that were dead, inside a 1,273-square-foot house where deputies had gone to evict the man and his mother.

By RYAN E. LITTLETHE LEDGER

BARTOW | A Bartow man was arrested Tuesday after Polk County Sheriff's deputies found 31 cats, including four that were dead, inside a 1,273-square-foot house where deputies had gone to evict the man and his mother.

Gary Leach, 51, was charged with 27 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect after deputies found the cats inside the house at 4704 Weston Road during the eviction.

Deputies said the home was in a "deplorable condition."

Leach and his mother, Jean Leach, 71, had been living in the house without water or power since February, deputies said. Inside, deputies found the dead and living cats in a home so cluttered there was no room to sit or lay down, they said.

Deputies and animal control officers spent hours collecting the cats from the home. They wore respiratory masks and elbow-length, heavy work gloves as they searched. When they would come out for a break, their uniforms were covered in cat fur and feces, dust and cobwebs.

Leach and his mother agreed to turn over the cats to Polk County Animal Control, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

The yard was covered with items, including dilapidated furniture and aged children's toys. Sun-faded clothes swung from a clothesline in the side yard.

Eugene Santana, who manages a small collection of duplexes in the Bomber Road neighborhood, said the cats have long been a nuisance. Santana said the cats frequently have gotten on his new car, a 2013 Chrysler 200, leaving a handful of claw marks.

Dennis Harper said he knew of Gary Leach, but never knew that a woman lived there, too.

Harper, who recently moved onto Weston Road to care for his grandchildren, said the neighborhood of about 200 homes has a high crime rate and a bad drug problem.

"It's not that the people are bad, it's just that the circumstances are bad," Harper said.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg."

More charges could be levied against Gary Leach as deputies continue the investigation.

Jean Leach was staying with friends Tuesday night as Gary Leach was booked into the Polk County Jail.

The two had not made arrangements to find a new place to live even though they had been served with a five-day and 24-hour notice of the eviction.

The house had recently been foreclosed on and purchased by a Bradenton-based company for $20,200, according to Polk County Property Appraiser records.

The two had lived in the house for almost 40 years.

The family bought the house in 1974 for $19,500 and had paid off a 30-year mortgage before taking out a reverse mortgage on the property in 2006, Gary Leach said before he was arrested.

Leach said he tried to find a new home for him and his mother, but could not find a suitable place the two could afford.

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